Such a wheel bearing unit is illustrated in GB 206,606. This wheel bearing unit is no longer suited to the demands made on modern vehicles, in particular as far as the mounting of the wheel bearing arrangement on the vehicle is concerned. Up until the time the invention was made, the expert selected tapered-roller bearings for wheel bearing arrangements on vehicles for medium and great loads. The advantage of using tapered-roller bearings lies in their considerably higher load carrying capacity, compared with the two-row angular contact ball bearings usually used, if bearings of both kinds which require the same construction space are compared with one another. With the use of tapered roller bearings, the known disadvantages of these are therefore also accepted. These disadvantages are essentially:                great weight and thus undesirably high, unsprung masses on the vehicle;        high frictional resistance by virtue of undesirable end contact between the rims of the inner ring and the tapered rollers;        the outer ring and the inner ring become misaligned during operation of the vehicle on account of the operating play in relation to one another;        relatively high manufacturing costs.        
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art wheel bearing unit 38 with a tapered roller bearing from the range of supply of the applicant. The wheel bearing unit 38 is formed essentially from an outer ring 39, a pair of neighboring inner rings 40, two opposing rows of tapered rollers 41 and seals 23. The seal 23 is a cassette seal and has, on a reinforcement 21 fastened to the outer ring, three sealing lips 14, 15, 24 (FIG. 1b). One 24 of the sealing lips is prestressed against the inner ring 40 peripherally and radially. The next sealing lip 14 bears radially inwardly against a cylindrical portion of a slinger plate. The actual slinger plate is angled radially outward from the portion.
A reciprocally magnetized encoder or another signal transmitter 42, is optionally located on the slinger plate. A sensor 43 lies opposite the transmitter, as illustrated in FIG. 1b. A third 15 of the sealing lips bears axially against a radial portion of the slinger plate. A brake disk 44 is fixed on one of the bearing rings 39, 40. The brake disk is illustrated without assignment in FIG. 1a. 
The wheel bearing unit 38 is prestressed without play or virtually without play via the inner rings 40 by means of the flanged rim 7a. Owing to the operating play during driving operation, the outer ring 39 can tilt in relation to the inner ring 40 by an angle α in relation to a plane E lying at right angles to the central axis of the wheel bearing unit and/or be displaced axially in the direction of the double arrow in relation to the tapered rollers 41 or to the inner ring 40. The outline of the outer ring 39 illustrated by the dashed line shows the outer ring 39 when it has drifted on account of the play. Stress peaks in the raceways and on the tapered rollers 41 and consequently the risk of overloading of the bearing are the result.
The shifts of the outer ring 39 have a disadvantageous effect on the connection construction. The seals 23 of the bearing are subjected to greater demands and in the case of large shifts no longer have the necessary sealing characteristics. The shifts of the outer ring 39 may lead to one or more of the sealing lips 14, 15 or 24 of the seal 23 lifting partly off the slinger plate or the inner ring 40. The possible effects are indicated by the dashed lines in FIG. 1b. The sealing action is then discontinued at the gaps S1 and S2. Furthermore, for example, the brake disk 44 fastened to the outer ring 39 or inner ring 40 drifts with the ring 39 or 40 concerned in relation to the rest of the bearing and surrounding construction or tilts with it, as illustrated in FIG. 1a. The encoder or another signal transmitter 42 moves closer to the sensor 43, and the spacings between sensor 43 and the encoder or another signal transmitter 42 are uneven. Inaccurate signals of the sensor technology of electronic measuring systems are the result. The brake disk 44 fixed on one of the bearing rings 39, 40 shifts with the bearing ring 39, 40 concerned. The position in relation to the brake shoes 45 interacting with the brake disk 44 becomes inaccurate. Reduced braking capacity and premature wear on the brake disk 44 and on the brake shoes are the result.